Zettai Daijoubu
by Mirrankei
Summary: AU as of xxxHolic 170. Four related one-shots revolving around the deaths of the Watanuki family, pre-series. Starts out CCS, but expands to include xxxHolic and Tsubasa, of course. SyaoranxSakura, Yuki/YuexTouya. Very sad. Many spoilers. Please review!
1. The Prediction

When he heard her voice on the phone, he knew something was wrong. Her voice was still and serene, but he knew she had something vitally important to say, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he was terrified, because he was sure he'd heard that tone of voice once before, a long time ago.

He arrived late at night, but her husband let him in with a subdued smile. The husband's name, hair, voice, and even smile were unfamiliar to him, but he could still feel the power of the moon under it all, and was assured that it was still the same person.

"Shh," the husband said as they passed their son's closed door. "He's sleeping."

They climbed the stairs to the top floor, where she was waiting in an all-too-familiar chair, clad in a beautiful white dress that was just bordering on gaudy, giving away the identity of its designer. She also wore a sad smile. At her side crouched a winged lion, poking morosely at a tray of pastries with its claws. The beast was not smiling.

As he saw them, he felt his own wings burst from his back, and closed his eyes to block out the light. When he opened them again, he was his other.

"You can't," he whispered. He tried to avoid showing weakness to her at all costs, normally, but this was too much to go through again. He dropped to his knees at her feet and begged; "Don't do this to me again…"

"I'm sorry, Yue," she murmured, stroking his hair as he buried his face in her lap. "There's nothing I can do."

"When?" he choked hoarsely.

"Soon, I think," she whispered. "Both of us."

His head snapped up, and he gazed in shock at her, then her husband, whose look of sadness made him look more like himself than before.

"Both of you…? But your son – your sons!"

"They have their own destinies to fulfill," the husband replied, the sternness of the statement weakened by the quaver in his voice. "And other people who will care for them and love them."

"But," she said suddenly, "You have to let those destinies happen. If you or someone else tries to stop them, or help them… it will only hurt both of you more."

He nodded in sad understanding. Fate he understood all too well. "And the cards?"

"The same will happen as happened before," she said.

"Do you know who…?"

She smiled at him. "You know I can't tell you if I do. But I'm sure whomever Kero-chan chooses will take good care of all of you. You can trust in his judgment."  
He nodded again, as the lion curled up tighter, trying to look as small as it felt. "Is there… is there anything I can do?"

She clasped his hands in hers, and lifted him to his feet. "_Live_," she ordered him, staring into his eyes. "Keep living, and be happy. Don't force yourself to be alone, like you did before. You have someone to live for now. Someone who loves you as much as you love him."

He stared down at her in amazement, and he could see her brother's face mirrored in the stubborn expression, and he understood. "I will."

She pulled him into a tight hug, and he wrapped his wings around her frail body. Her tears soaked his clothing, and she told him, "Take care of my brother."

"I will," he repeated. "I will."

He hugged her back as tightly as he could, and when they separated, he hugged her unfamiliar husband too. It was awkward, they had never been that close, but he knew he would miss the boy who had once loved him. He nodded to the lion, which nodded back, and he left.

He flew to an alleyway near the train station he would need to go home, and folded his wings back to become human again. As a human, he collapsed onto the cold cement, his other's memories fresh in his mind, and he cried the way his other could not, sobbing and hiccupping, his glasses steaming up under the bright, full moon, and he mourned the coming loss of his mistress and her husband.

The loss of his friends.


	2. The Accident

Alright, for some reason, this is the only chapter FFN will let me edit. Sorry for breaking the mood, but I feel I have to put in this note - PLEASE stop sending me reviews that say that this isn't accurate. I know it isn't. I put in the summary that it's an AU. I'm well aware that Sakura and Syaoran didn't die. The thing is, I wrote this quite a while before that was revealed. So please, if you review, make it a real review, not a know-it-all statement of the obvious.

Alright, enough of that. Enjoy the angst.

* * *

"It's happening now," she whispered as the car lurched forwards. Her husband, who was driving, glanced at her, and grabbed her hand to comfort her. They shared a sad smile for a fraction of a second, knowing there was nothing they could do to stop fate, but as the other car came screeching towards them, they both dove in unison towards their son in the back seat, shielding him with their bodies as the walls crumpled and the windshield exploded into shards of glass.

For an instant, the world as all noise and light as the car spun on the wet road. The rain was refracting the stoplights of the intersection, the headlamps of the cars around them, and the ambient light of the bright city into a blaze of color all around them. The brakes were screeching, the horns of the other cars were blaring, a scream issued from within the car itself, and she wondered dimly if the sound was coming from her husband, her son, or her own throat.

Then there was silence. She heard nothing more than her own heartbeat in her ears, and saw only darkness.

After a moment, she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a blur of light, and then her son, who was clutched unconscious in her arms. His glasses were broken, he had a large bump on his head, and he was covered in blood, but she could feel his heartbeat against her arms. She turned her head, painfully, to face her husband. His glasses were broken, too, as he lay draped across his seatbelt, twisted in the seat to try and cover her and their son with his body. But the broken glasses had left shards in his eyes, and his neck was twisted too far on his neck. Those bloody eyes were shut, and his every muscle was completely relaxed, because he had already died. She was dimly happy that he had died first, instantly, because she knew it would have hurt him even more to see her bleed to death.

After all, it was her own blood that painted her son's face, and the twisted piece of metal that poked through both sides of her chest implied that she didn't have much time left.

Between that instant and her awakening in an ambulance, she dreamed.

She saw the past first.

In the past, she saw a glimpse of her mother's smile, and then her father smiling back at a photograph. She saw herself clutching the back of her twelve-year-old brother's bicycle as he pulled her along on her new roller blades, a smiling girl who offered her a strange outfit and pulled a video camera from nowhere. She saw a tiny lion climb out of a book, a girl who looked just like her mimicking her every move, a black-haired girl in Chinese robes fighting another girl who seemed to glow blue, a boy with smiling closed eyes, getting dragged away by his curly haired girlfriend. She saw a winged man clutching her older brother in protection, a black haired boy with glasses smiling in the darkness with his butterfly-winged guardians, and an older bespectacled boy laughing merrily as he threw her a piece of candy.

In the past, she saw a boy in elementary uniform grabbing her arm in anger. She saw him in green robes, casting lightning from his sword. She saw him blush when she approached him, and felt his embrace when she collapsed from exhaustion. She saw him appear, too weak to stand properly, over her shoulder to help her grasp her staff and give her his power. She stood awkwardly at the airport, but saw him smile and hand her a teddy bear, far better quality than any she could have made. She saw his eyes widen in shock as she jumped into his arms from across a clock tower. She saw him dressed in Chinese wedding robes through her veil, and saw him grin as she leaned in to kiss him.

In the past, she saw her first son in her arms, and heard herself whisper, "He looks just like you." She saw the sadness and confusion as she hugged the preteen goodbye, his father's sword clutched in his fist, looking so much like the boy she had fallen in love with. She had no wish, so she didn't see the building, but she saw him disappear as he entered what looked like an empty lot.

In the past, she saw her second son, born at the same time as her first, but in a different timeline, a tiny creature with black hair instead of brown. She saw what looked like a stranger where her husband should have been, with black hair and glasses to match their new son, and saw him scowl when she giggled, "You look like Eriol."

She saw their second son grow, and saw herself give the lion her staff, to give to the witch as payment for her first son.

Next, she saw the future.

She saw a funeral – two graves side by side, and her friends and coworkers surrounded them. She saw the funeral end, and saw her brother, her guardians, and her closest friends, all of whom hadn't seen her since either son was born.

She saw her second son approach the witch, but didn't hear what he wished for. She saw him come again, and he didn't know where he was, but she smiled to herself when she saw him dressed in an apron, cooking the same dishes her husband had made for him. She saw a boy who hid his emotions but loved her son, and a girl who loved them both and smiled. She saw a little girl too afraid to smile, balloons, foxes, monsters, spirits, and through it all, her smiling son, his eyes mismatched as the witch and his friends smiled back.

She saw what could have been her own past again, but she had never lived in a desert, her brother had never worn a crown, and her son was taller, thinner, and filled with more sadness than his father had been at that age. She saw him live out his childhood twice, no, three times, and saw him rip his eye out to save the girl he loved. She saw a dark man who scowled and a light man who smiled, and knew their appearances reflected the opposite of their souls, and saw them all grow into a family. She saw two fat rabbit-like creatures who sighed for each other across dimensions, and could only watch as her son fought himself, the blood of the smiling man still on one of their lips.

But through the pain of one son and the joy of the other, she saw at the end –

She awoke briefly to a siren blaring, and saw the white roof of the ambulance. A doctor was busily attaching things to her and taking things away, doing everything possible to save her life. She turned her head and saw her son, still unconscious, but alive, and her other son lived on as well. She reached out with a trembling hand and touched his arm lightly.

"You will be alright," she whispered, "Definitely."

As she fell asleep for the last time, she saw her mother and father waiting, and the mad sorcerer who had given her so much to love in her life, and the man she loved, somehow appearing in both forms at once, the father of both her sons.

And as he wrapped his arms around her, they watched their son ride away in the ambulance, and they saw their son asleep in a glass container, and they saw their son twice, playing with the girl he loved under the desert sun, and she whispered to all of them, "_Zettai daijoubu."_


	3. The Funeral

The day was cold, but the sun shone through the clouds, and its rays hit a group of people dressed in black. They were gathered in one of the few grassy areas within the city, and the people would normally be enjoying the weather or working, but instead, they were here, and some of them were crying.

There had been an accident. The couple's car had been hit by another car, whose speed had been too great for the brakes to handle on such a rainy night. The other driver had a broken arm and a concussion. The father had died in the car, and the mother followed suit in the ambulance. Only their son had survived the crash. He was not present at the funeral.

The couple was buried together. The people who stood around the graves were friends and coworkers, people who had met the couple a few years ago, and had come to know and love them. They dropped their flowers on the grave when the eulogy was done and they left. Some of them went home to care for the living. Some of them went back to work.

The graveyard remained empty for some time. Long after the funeral had ended, a new group of people started to trickle in. The first was a tall young man with black hair and dark eyes. He approached the graves quietly, and stared down at them for a long time.

Quiet footsteps approached behind him, but he didn't turn. Another young man stood next to him, His light hair was in his eyes, and his glasses glinted in the sunlight. He didn't say anything either, but he reached for the darker man's hand and grasped it in comfort.

Soon there were more of them. A younger boy with dark hair and glasses, accompanied by two women with long red hair, and later a limousine dropped off a woman in a beautiful black dress, clutching her purse as she waved her bodyguards away. The last to arrive was a beautiful Chinese woman, clad all in white and carrying flowers. Among all the people in black, she stood out in her flowing white dress, and the man thought she looked out of place at the cemetery, more like a bride, waiting for her groom to come take her away.

They all stood in silence for a long time, not sure what to say without somebody leading the procession. After a while, they decided nothing really needed to be said. After all, they were virtually strangers, most of them. Their only unity came from the couple that lay beneath their feet.

The assembly fanned out back into the smaller groups they had arrived in. The black haired man stood away from the graves, looking out at the city, and his bespectacled friend followed him. Hearing the other people start murmuring, he spoke as well.

"What happens now?"

His companion responded, "We live. That… that's what she wanted us to do. To go on living and loving."

The man was silent. That did sound just like something she would say, with a bright smile that somehow blended flawlessly with the sadness in her eyes. When he was younger, death never saddened him, because he had seen that was not the end, and he knew that the people he loved were in a beautiful place in the sky. But it had been many years since he'd given up that ability, and he wasn't so sure any more. All he knew was that he missed her.

"All these people… they knew this would happen?"

The other man glanced around. He first saw the young man with the two redheads, and said, "He did. And he would have told them, if they couldn't predict it themselves." The other two women, one in black and one in white, were kneeling together at the headstone, lighting incense and praying. "And they probably told those two themselves."

The first man didn't answer. Once, he would have been able to see it coming, too. As a teenager, he had known almost everything that would happen to her, could sense her aura coming down the stairs and even see what would happen in her love life, but he'd given it all up. He never regretted the decision, but he did miss the power. On the other hand, what would he have done if he had known in advance?

When the accident happened, they had been miles away, in their own little apartment, when his companion had suddenly dropped the pan he was holding and stared into space. _"It finally happened,"_ he had whispered, and looked deep into his eyes. _"Your sister just died."_

"I want their son," the man said suddenly.

"No," was the sad reply. "We can't."

"Why the hell not? He's my nephew, I should be the one to – "

"No, Touya. We can't take him. He has his own destiny – "  
"Fuck destiny, he's all that's left of her. He needs someone to look after him, and I can do it."

"I know you will. But you can't. Sakura knew. She told Yue that you couldn't take him, because she knew you would love him too much. He has to face his fate, and she knew you wouldn't be able to let him go. Why do you think she refused to see us all these years? All this time, we never saw her or her husband; they never even sent us a picture of their kid. Because they knew if we were too close, it would hurt us more."

Touya was quiet for some time. "What about his family? Will they take him?"

"He doesn't have a family." As Touya looked at him in confusion, the man continued, "Sakura-chan never married Watanuki-san. There… There's no such _person_ as Watanuki-san." He turned to face his companion. "We were at their wedding. Sakura married Syaoran-kun, remember? 'The brat?' He loved her more than anything in the world. And…"

"Kimihiro isn't their only son."

The two men looked around in surprise for the source of the voice. A small yellow creature flew between them, its ears and tail drooping. It gave them a tired smile and spoke. "Hello Yuki-san, Touya-san, good to finally meet you. Though I wish it were under better circumstances…" The creature looked the same as it always had, though it seemed to Touya that it had more life when it was pretending to be a stuffed toy.

The men nodded at it in greeting. "What do you mean he's not their only son?"

The creature sighed, and stared out at the city. "Sakura and Syaoran have another son… he looks just like his father. They raised him with magic and martial arts, and he was a solemn kid, but happy." He glanced at Touya. "You were there when he was born, but you haven't seen him since. Nobody has, because of what she saw in her dream soon after. They knew he was fated to leave them at a young age, so they prepared him for his journey, and cut off the family he would have had, so that there wouldn't be any sad goodbyes. And so he left, and they were alone. But something happened to the kid, and he made a wish, and time was turned back so he could be in another world, and they were given Kimihiro in his place. Syaoran changed his name and face to match his son's, and they raised him happy and safe, without magic, because she gave hers to the dimensional witch and he gave his to their first son.

His family understood when they cut them off, because they were raised with magic and destiny. When he changed his name, he left his family forever. And the timeline's changed, so people without magic can't remember the first time through. You would have known, too, if not –"

"If not for me," said the man with glasses, and looked away sadly.

Touya grabbed him firmly by the arms and whirled him back around. "Don't say that, Yuki. Don't _ever_ say that. I never regretted saving you, and you shouldn't either." He kissed his lover then, putting all his pain and anger and love into it at once. When they separated, there was no guilt between them. "I know now, and that's enough."

They turned back to the grave, and slowly started to walk away. The young black haired man with glasses was looking at them with a sly smile on his face. The younger of the red haired women was chatting amiably with a tiny black cat. The young woman in black, one of the most powerful women in Japan, sat in the mud and wept into the sleeves of the elder, who held her tight by the incense and prayed.

The woman in white, who had never known the Watanukis, stood closest to the graves, saying some sort of eulogy in Chinese. Touya's heart went out to her; because he knew how hard it must have been to have the man you loved as a child become a stranger.

"Where will you go now?" Yukito said suddenly.

The yellow creature looked up to the sky. "Back to the book. I have to wait for our new master to arrive."

The two men shook the creature's tiny paw, and it flew away. Bit by bit, the group of people left. The black haired man and his companions were gone without anyone noticing, and the two girls in black and white left together in the limousine. Touya and Yuki were the last to leave, long after the moon had risen, and the graveyard was quiet once again.


	4. The Reunion

It seemed like this would be one of the easier worlds. There didn't seem to be much magic in everyday use, though Mokona said he could sense some, and it seemed to be pretty much at peace. So the day went by quickly, and they scanned the serene city for the princess' elusive feather. As the sun got lower in the sky, they all started to find themselves getting extremely hungry (except Fai, of course).

So they soon found themselves at a café. They hadn't had either time or resources to change clothing, and the entrance of a girl in pink with a cane, a huge bulk of a man in black, a young boy in a cape (of all things!), and a young man with only one eye predictably attracted a bit of attention. Ignoring it, they sat at a booth by the window and waited for someone to take their order.

"Can I help you?" queried an all-too-familiar voice. The high priest of Clow calmly took their orders: soup for Syaoran, a beef sandwich for Kurogane, a pastry for the princess, and just water for Fai. The priest-turned-waiter smiled sweetly at them, but if they had been paying attention, they may have noticed how similar the smile was to the one a member of their own group had once worn.

* * *

As Yuki walked to the kitchen, he heard the tall man in black say harshly, "Why are those guys at _every_ restaurant we ever go to?" and wondered vaguely what he meant. As he stepped into the hot room, he leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Eyes shut tight, he did his best to calm himself down, just focusing on breathing in and out, and not on the ghosts who had walked in the door.

"Yuki," said a voice in front of him, and he opened his eyes to the worried face of his lover. "Are you alright?" Touya asked. "What happened?"

Yuki pushed himself off the wall and cracked open the kitchen door. "Look," he instructed, "but don't react."

Touya's breath caught as he saw the patrons. It was Sakura, his dear little sister as she had looked years before her death, and he wanted nothing more than to run over and hug her and never let go. But after a second more of staring, he realized it wasn't her. The hair, the eyes, and even the voice like ringing bells that made its way to his ears were the same, but it wasn't _his_ Sakura. This girl had a haunted look in her eyes that had never once graced the face of his little sister. She looked too old for her own body, and sadness seemed present in every part of her being. When she stood up to go to the restroom, he could see that she wore a brace on her leg, and used a cane to hobble to the door.

Touya shut the door sadly, and said, "It really looks just like her, doesn't it?" Yuki appeared again at his side, carrying a tray laden with the group's order. "But it's not."

Yuki smiled. "Well, it is, in a way. The same person, but from a different dimension. The same soul, but with different experiences." He handed Touya the tray. "Anyway, it's not her you should be looking at."

"What do you mean?"

Yuki pushed him out the door. "Go and see."

* * *

It was the king, this time, who delivered their food, but that was pretty much expected. He served their dishes with the usual detached efficiency, but his eyes seemed to linger on Syaoran for a long time. The boy fidgeted under the gaze, in a way that reminded his companions of their previous partner. "Thank you very much," he said, overly polite, as if this really was his king he talked to, and not just a reflection of him who served tables.

"You're very welcome," the king said warmly, much to everyone's surprise. Syaoran watched his receding back, and realized that this version seemed a bit older than the rest of them had, and somehow sadder as well.

Shrugging the feeling off, he started his meal before Mokona could start it for him.

They had a cheerful meal. Fai cracked some jokes with Mokona (often at Kurogane's expense), the smile on his face reaching his remaining eye more than it usually did. Syaoran and Sakura chatted together about how pleasant this world seemed to be, and Kurogane remained silent unless Fai and Mokona said something particularly offensive. All in all, it was the best meal they'd had in a while, with no awkward silences or anger, and for the time they were in that café, they felt almost like a family again.

When the dishes were mostly empty, Fai's glass of water had been discreetly spilled enough to look like he had drank some, and Mokona was eating the crumbs off Sakura's plate, the high priest was back to deliver the bill.

As the waiter left, Fai murmured, "We've been enjoying ourselves so much in this world, we've forgotten to get any money."

"Should we make a run for it?" Kurogane suggested.

Mokona fidgeted in Sakura's lap. "But the people here are so nice, and the food was so good… Mokona would feel really bad if we just left!"

"And we forgot to ask for information on the feather," Syaoran pointed out.

Their argument was cut short as a perfectly manicured hand pulled the bill off their table. A kind looking young woman stood in front of them, smiling, and she said, "I'll pay for you." Kurogane thought she seemed somewhat familiar.

There was a stunned silence for a moment.

"Wh… Why would you do that?"

The woman smiled sweetly at Syaoran, her long black hair spilling across her shoulder. "I don't know, really. I just took a liking to you." She turned her sweet smile to Sakura, who felt an instant kinship with the beautiful woman. "Is that alright? I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you say you were out of money."

"We are," Fai said, his fake smile and charm plastered back on his face. "Thank you so very much for offering."

The woman slipped some bills into the folder, and placed it back on the table. "You're welcome." They stared after her as she returned to her table, joining her friends.

After the high priest took the bill, he returned with the folder. "Your change." Syaoran stood up and went to the woman's table to give it to her, but she refused.

"Keep it," she said. "You need it more than I do."

He thanked her again, and as he turned away, the man she was sitting with grabbed his arm. "That thing you're looking for," he said, his glasses reflecting the merry light of the café. "You'll find it here," and images flashed into Syaoran's mind of a grassy area overlooking the city. "Go alone, if you don't mind. There are some people who want to meet you." Syaoran stared in confusion at the man, but he had already gone back to chatting with the red haired woman beside him, giving no sign that anything strange had happened.

Syaoran made his way back to his table. "Let's go," he said.

* * *

The five of them watched the traveling party leave. When they were out of sight, Touya asked, "How did you know they were coming?"

Tomoyo just smiled her sweet smile and said, "Eriol-kun called me last night. He said to meet me here, because he had something to show me."

The Englishman in question smiled as he stirred his tea. "I saw them coming here in a dream. I thought you all might like to meet them."

"The girl really looks just like Sakura-chan," said Nakuru thoughtfully. "I nearly couldn't believe my eyes."

"The girl's not the one I couldn't believe," said Touya. "I can understand what you're saying about different worlds, but that boy… There's only one person like that."

"There are three, actually," said Eriol. "But you're right. He's really something, that nephew of yours."

They stared out the window for a while longer, thinking. Touya couldn't get out of his mind the look on the boy's face. A face identical to the brat who had become his brother-in-law, but the expressions on it were just like Sakura's. He saw them both in the boy's eyes, and felt proud of his nephew for coming so far, and saddened that he had never gotten to know him.

"Well," said Eriol. "All's well that ends well. We saw them, and they're on their way."

"I videotaped it for Meiling," Tomoyo said cheerfully, pulling her camcorder out of nowhere. "She was so upset she couldn't make it, but now she'll get to see, at least, even though she didn't get to meet them."

The three at the table prepared to leave, scooting their chairs in, and as the two servers went to go back to work, Eriol pulled Yukito aside. "That's not quite the last of them. They won't leave until they've found what they're looking for. So could you do me a favor…?"

* * *

In the darkened evening, Syaoran walked the streets alone. He told the others he wanted to go for a walk, to get some time alone, and they had accepted without question, knowing the stress the boy went through every day. In truth, he was going to where the strange man had shown him. His feet seemed to know the way, even though he himself didn't, and he was soon walking on the grass.

As he continued walking, he noticed the neat rows of stones all across the plain. "A cemetery?" he murmured to himself. He hoped he didn't have to dig up any graves to find the princess' feather.

Though he didn't know where he was going, he kept walking in a straight line, never faltering. It felt like something was calling him, leading him to wherever it was he needed to be. As he reached the top of the hill, he saw something in the distance. From there, the view of the city was beautiful, the full moon shining brightly on the quiet buildings, but that was not what caught his eye.

There, atop one of the graves, was a book. Not just a book, _the_ book. He knew it before he was close enough to see it properly, because he'd seen that book so many times, now two lifetimes ago, and he could remember climbing into his mother's lap as she pulled it away, saying with a laugh, "_No, no dear, this isn't for you._" He'd seen her pull down that book every day, and sometimes when she held it a small wind would pick up, even when they were inside, and sometimes she would do something magnificent with it, her magic circle appearing at her feet as she conjured spirits from what seemed to him like thin air.

He knelt down on the grave and stroked the cover of the book with a shaking hand, his fingers running gently over the name written on the cover: _Sakura_. Other than the name, the cover was blank.

He clutched the book to his chest, and stared at the headstone. He could tell there was a spell on it, but it felt like one of peace and protection, so he ignored it. He ran his fingers over the names engraved there: _Li Syaoran and Sakura_.

He cried there for some time. He rarely cried for anything, but he remembered his parents. He hadn't remembered this place, his own world, but he remembered his parents, his mother singing slightly out of tune to him as she ran her fingers through his hair, his father praising him for perfecting his kata or casting a spell, all three of them on the couch watching scary movies, his mother's face in a pillow because she _hated_ ghost stories, and his father trying both to comfort her and not to laugh at the same time, and himself between them, unafraid of any monsters because he had them to protect him, so would they please be quiet so he could hear the TV? He remembered them, and he suddenly missed them dearly, crying in the darkness because he hadn't known they had died, or how, or when.

After what seemed like an eternity, he felt he had no tears left. He rose shakily to his feet, still clutching the book, and as he turned to leave, he was face to face with a lion. It wore golden armor, and white wings were folded on its back.

The beast lay placidly on the grass behind him, and he wondered how it had escaped his notice when it arrived. It watched him kindly with golden eyes, and when he realized it wasn't going to attack, he relaxed a bit.

"Hey there, kid," it said. "Long time no see."

Syaoran blinked at it. "You… know me?"

The lion smiled. "I knew you when you were real small, kid. I used to take you around the garden on my back, and even took you flying sometimes when yer mom and dad weren't looking. Thought it was dangerous. As if I'd ever let you fall," it said with a huff. "She never had any faith in me."

"Who… are you?"

"The name's Keroberos, kid. Guardian of that book you're holding. Well, one of 'em anyway."

"There are others like you?"

"Just one," said the lion. Over in the tree there." Syaoran turned in surprise. A man with long white hair stood on a tree branch. Like the lion, he also had wings.

"Hello," he said softly, seeing Syaoran turn. "I am called Yue."

He stared at the strange man, who lightly jumped off the branch and landed before him. "You knew my mother, too?"

"Not long enough," Yue said sadly. "She died very young. But I knew her before she knew me, and I served her long after."

Syaoran smiled at the two guardians. He felt safe in their presence, as if his parents were here with him, too, protecting him. Yue gently grasped his chin with a cool finger, and lifted it to stare into his eyes. "You look just like your father," he said quietly. "But your soul is more like your mother's."

He tears stinging at his eyes again. Yue let him go in surprise. "I never realized how much I missed them," he sobbed, He felt no shame for crying; with the princess or Fai or Kurogane, he would have felt embarrassed at this show of emotion, but the guardians felt safe, and he knew that they missed his parents as much as he did. "I miss them so much…"

He felt a large paw land on his shoulder and found himself pressed against Keroberos' warm body. He buried his face in the fur and cried for another eternity, Yue's hand stroking his hair the way his mother had once done.

Yue spoke softly into his ear. "You need to stop crying now," he said. "There is something you came here for, and you must retrieve it." Syaoran reluctantly pulled his face away from Keroberos' shoulder, and the lion released him.

"Do you know where it is?" he asked them, wiping the tears on his shirt.

"We do," said Keroberos. "But first we got a present for ya." He grinned into the boy's face. "Open the book."

Syaoran hesitated, because he could remember his mother's words, _"This isn't for you," _but these were his mother's guardians, so he undid the latch on the cover and flipped it open.

Something enormous, no, a lot of small things, came flying out of the book. He covered his face with his arm, but Yue pulled it away. "_Look."_

He looked up and saw what looked like tarot cards floating above his head, each one bordered in bright pink and bearing the signature _Sakura_ on the bottom. They danced around his head, glowing brightly against the dark sky, and one by one, they changed to their true forms to greet him.

He had never met them before, but they were his mother's spirits, so they loved him like they had loved her. Windy and Wood wrapped him in their embraces, and Fiery streaked across the sky as she raced Thunder. The Twins sat on either side of him, Dash curled around his neck and whistled, Song and Voice sang him a duet in what sounded like Tomoyo's voice, Bubble washed the tears from his face and Watery rinsed the soap away. They all said hello and goodbye to him at once, Dark and Light stroking his hair gently, and Fly and Jump nuzzled his shoes. He laughed with them, because there was only joy in this strange meeting, as Keroberos and Yue watched from the side.

The last to return to her card was Mirror, appearing first to him as his mother, when she was ten. She whispered to him, "_Zettai daijoubu, ne?"_ and then she was a card in his hand, the ribbons in her hair looking strangely out of place. He carefully stacked all the cards up and clutched them to his chest. "Thank you."

Keroberos pointed. "There's one more."

Syaoran picked it up, and the card hummed lovingly at his touch. It showed a woman smiling, and a heart with ribbons around it. "Sakura made that card for Syaoran," the lion said. "I'm not even sure what it does, but it saved our butts from the most dangerous card of the pack, and then merged with it to become what you're holding now. It exists because of the love between your parents."

Syaoran held the card to his face, and felt its power rushing through him, filling him with that feeling of love all over again. He carefully put it back in the stack, and walked back to where he left the book.

"Now," said Yue, "It's time for you to move on. You've a long journey ahead." Syaoran nodded in understanding. The guardian approached him and smiled. "I'm glad to see you've grown up so well. Sakura and Syaoran are very proud of you, I'm certain."

"Thank you."

The white haired man stretched his wings out and looked up at the sky. "Now, I must go. It's very late, and Touya will be getting worried."

Syaoran gaped in astonishment. "Touya?"

He smiled. "Your uncle, Sakura's brother. I promised her I would look after him."

"Pfeh!" Keroberos spat. "Promise my butt. You did that on your own. And you only stay for the sex."

Yue just smiled mysteriously, and took to the air.

Keroberos snorted derisively, and walked over to Syaoran, who remained staring up at the sky in confusion. "He's right though, kid. Time to put the cards back, and go finish yer adventure."

Syaoran reluctantly turned to follow the lion, but he was gone. He looked around wildly, but the only thing there was the book. A golden beast with white wings now adorned its cover. Smiling, he picked up the volume. "Thank you," he said again. He opened the book, and saw, within the card-shaped gap in its pages, a single white feather, adorned with Sakura-hime's symbol.

* * *

The next morning, they left for a new world. As Mokona's magic swirled around them, Syaoran had a belated realization that if this really was _his_ home world, then Yuuko and Watanuki were here too, and they should have gone to see them. But no… when he needed to see them, he would. This time around, he had met who he needed to, and learned what he needed to.

_Zettai daijoubu,_ he thought to himself.


End file.
